Students flocked around the circular tables of the Humanities Center as they eagerly enjoyed scoops of rich, chocolate ice cream that seemed to melt perfectly with every bite. The shelves were lined with an assortment of colorful board games as faculty members conversed with students. The warm buzz of conversation, occasional cheers, and the clinking of ice cream spoons created a scene of pure celebration as Loyola students, faculty, and staff observed the grand opening of the Humanities Café.
This idea for the space didn’t happen overnight. The café has been in development for two years, stemming from a brainstorming retreat hosted by the Center for the Humanities Steering Committee. Department Chair of the Classics Department Dr. Martha Taylor and Associate Professor Dr. Gayla McGlamery discussed transforming the space left by the Refectory closure into the Humanities Café.
Taylor said, “We were at a retreat in Havre de Grace and we were just sort of tossing ideas around. We were like ‘Why don’t we start a café?’”
Associate Dean for the Humanities and Professor of History Matthew Mulcahy explains that the café is designed to be student driven. Its motivation centers around student engagement.
“We really want [the café] to be student-run, so whether the classics or philosophy club wants to have a meeting there, the Spanish club wants to show a Spanish language film, or [students] use the karaoke machine for open mic night or poetry reading night. We really want students to run it and for them to use the space as they want to use it,” Mulcahy said.
The café was selected to enhance the sense of community among students studying the humanities. According to Dr. Taylor, those studying humanities often lack the tight-knit identity that STEM or business majors tend to have. With a variety of humanities majors at Loyola, finding a dedicated space for these students to connect has been a challenge.
“We wanted to have a gathering place, so that students in the humanities can see each other. The English majors know who they are, the theology majors know who they are, but the students who are majoring in the humanities don’t have quite as much of a sense of community as STEM majors or business majors do,” Taylor said.
Taylor notes how contributions in the humanities are often overlooked. Within the drive for greater recognition within the humanitarian fields, the value of the humanities has evolved due to the rise in technology, particularly artificial intelligence.
“I think there’s not as much understanding of all the cool things that the students are doing in the humanities… The humanities are more important than ever right now, especially with the rise of AI. There are a lot of majors that people used to think were really safe: accounting, finance, or computer science. A lot of the jobs that come from those majors are gonna disappear or become markedly transformed because of AI. What machines can’t do are the humanistic things, the things like the humanities,” Taylor said.
The Humanities Café is open to students Tuesday through Friday from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. The café serves ice cream along with other desserts.
